About Us

In 1991, the Boston Youth Clean-Up Corps (BYCC) employed artist Heidi Schork to head up a new division of its program called the Mural Crew. The main goal of this newly established program was to eradicate the graffiti problem that was taking over Codman Square in Dorchester. Schork and a group of eight teenagers set upon the task at hand and began adorning graffiti covered security grates with art. The artwork was well received by the residents of the neighborhood and soon the art jumped from the grates to the walls. Since its introduction, the Mural Crew has expanded to include four crews of teen artists and a staff of five professional artists. In 1995, Schork employed a group of artists from the Massachusetts College of Art. Gregg Bernstein, Teig Grennan, Jennifer Rydwansky and Michael Womble joined Schork in bringing art to the public. In the fall of 1998, the Mural Crew expanded again to include an after school program that continues to work on interior commissions in the winter months. The BYCC Mural Crew has produced over sixty public art works since 1991 and is presently creating more.

Every summer, four crews of young Boston artists directed by professional mural painters conceptualize, design, and paint murals that reflect the neighborhood or business district where a wall is located. The program has given hundreds of Boston's youth the opportunity to be active participants in the creation of public art. The Boston Youth Fund (or BYF, as it is now known) Mural Crew gives youth an opportunity to improve skills, gain experience, and contribute to the vitality of the city. It has also helped members receive scholarships to go on to college and pursue a career in art. The Mural Crew continues to serve as a model for innovative youth programming, linking art and community. We'd like to think of Boston as a city connected by murals!